Tuesday Truths 2015 edition v45

This week we’re honoring our Veterans (something that should happen every day!) and as a daughter of a Veteran (Go Army!), I value the sacrifices that our military personnel and their families endure for the preservation of our safety and for freedom. I especially get emotional when I’m in the airport and see a crew boarding/deplaning. I’ll make a trip to Arlington National Cemetery to pay my respects to my father and all of the others who have served.

Here’s Tuesday Truths

Growing up in a multicultural household, I’ve always straddled the heritages that have accompanied my family history – neither fully Caucasian or fully Vietnamese, I grew up knowing that being American had a widely diverse definition. I’m happy to see that television is following suit and my friend, Jeff Yang writes about how tv is redefining the definition of being American. With more diverse casting along with the powers that be making decisions, our stories are being told.

It’s the last quarter of 2015 before the holidays take over the calendar and we dive into the deep end of the pool for 2016. I spent 2 days last week working on projects with some fellow operatives visualizing and setting goals for the election cycle. Which meant I was tasked with the fun part of “how do we do all of this legally” – certainly not the sexy part of the planning stage but most definitely an essential part so that none of us go to the clinker. With the excitement of the election, be prepared to know how you can best use your advocacy organizations without losing your tax status.

I always come back to fundraising because honestly, if you can’t pay for it, shiz just doesn’t happen and in the AAPI community, we’re growing more politically aware and that includes building our financial capital. Journalist Bobby Calvanwrote a three part series for Al Jazeera America showcasing the AAPI electorate for the 2016 cycle. I hope you read it just to educate yourself about this very critical swing vote. Here’s the 1st part, 2nd part and 3rd part (where my colleagues and I are quoted about the AAPI donor community).